The Living End- White Noise

This album is controversially The Living End's first album that didn't have a red, white and black cover. Shock, horror! It turns out this change was a statement of intent, as the album debuted a slower, heavier style.

It was the bands their fifth album and was released in 2008. Although this is only two years after State of Emergency, between these two albums the band were on hiatus and very nearly called it quits. 

How Do We Know wastes no time establishing that there is a new style in town. It's massive riff rates up there with Audioslave's finest. And towards the end, the backing strings are a nice touch. However, the recording quality is terrible! Ok, I get that they were going for a rougher "garage" sound, but the clipped bass drum and random feedback rings are taking it too far in my opinion. While this raw style continues through the album, thankfully they made their point in the opening track and the rest of the album is much less jarring.

Raise the Alarm is a great blend of old and new. Highlights are the lyrics and the perfect singalong chorus. A minor quibble is that the first two songs expose the lead vocals as lacking the required power for this hard-rock stuff.

Now, the title track, White Noise. I'm not trying to be controversial, but I don't rate it at all. Despite having won various awards, I regard it as a throwaway pop hit which has a few decent hooks that are rehashed over and over as the song drags out. While I'm slagging off songs, Make the Call feels like a cliched and contrived Wolfmother ripoff, Kid is middle-of-the-road blandness with awful lyrics, and the verses of the reggae song Sum of Us feel lumbering and disjointed (although it comes together nicely for the chorus).

Waiting for the Silence is quite similar to the much-maligned stuff off Modern Artillery (ie the song Jimmy), however the rousing chorus rescues it somewhat. On the other hand, Loaded Gun and 21st Century- both of which feature terrible choruses but very nice verses. The headbanging riff of Loaded Gun and the frenetic guitar and vocal energy in the verses of 21st Century both work very well.

It all comes together for Moment in the Sun, which features a traditionally brilliant Living End chorus. It's simple, fun rock'n'roll and the piano is a nice touch.

Hey Hey Disbeliever uses the cheese-cutter riff in the verses to brilliant effect. The chorus is pretty good in its own right, although the transition into it is a bit abrupt and upsets the groove. Interestingly, I find it actually works better towards the end when they drop all the way to an acoustic sound at the start of the chorus. But enough of this over-intellectualising, the song is perfect for epic headbanging!

Favourite songs

How Do We Know, Raise the Alarm, Moment in the Sun, Hey Hey Disbeliever

Worthwhile?

Hmm... tricky question... Well, I know that one must embrace change, but this album is a mixed bag. It's a case of a few solid songs scattered amongst the mess. Trying to put my biases about The Living End aside, I will say that the handful of good songs do make it worthwhile.